Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 Shot Down: U.S. Official

A Malaysia AirlinesBoeing 777-200ER was shot down by a surface-to-air missile system on July 17, according to a U.S. government official.

Ukrainian officials have suggested it was a SA-11, a mobile air defense system.

"We know that a missile was fired. It is uncertain from what exact location," the source says. "The question is, was it [launched from] the far Eastern tip of Ukraine or possibly from Russia."

The radar-guided missile, which the government official says can reach targets at altitudes of up to 80,000 ft., has been described as a "very lethal" threat for allied aviators in the past.

Both Kiev and separatist spokesmen denied they had fired at the aircraft, but the U.S. government source says Washington feels "the Ukrainian government has been exonerated." It is believed that U.S. space-based early ballistic missile warning satellites -- the Defense Support Program and Space-Based Infrared System satellites -- were among the assets detecting the missile launch. The government official suggests allies have “other assets in the region” capable of detecting such a launch.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, a Boeing 777-200ER registered 9M-MRD en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, crashed Thursday 30km from the Tamak waypoint, about 50km from the Russia-Ukraine border. There were 283 passengers and 15 crew on board. The flight was operated as a code-sharing service with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

The aircraft was cruising at 33,000 ft. and at a speed of 476 knots. It left Amsterdam at 1215 and was due to arrive in Kuala Lumpur at 0600 local time on Friday.

There has been intense fighting in the region between the Ukrainian military and separatists since Russia annexed Crimea in the spring. Two aircraft, an Antonov An-26 and a Sukhoi Su-25, have recently been shot down in the region.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak said Malaysia Airlines will dispatch a special flight to Kiev/Ukraine. He has been told by Ukrainian authorities that the aircraft has been shot down. According to Razak, the aircraft did not make a distress call. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said that the aircraft was “blown out of the sky.” And the Ukrainian Foreign Minister stated in an interview that his government had proof the aircraft was shot down by pro-Russian separatists.

The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) stated that “any shoot down of a civilian aircraft operating in fully legal airspace, without any warning or justification, whether mistaken or not, represents a flagrant violation of international law and an irresponsible attack on the safety of international civil aviation.”

Following the crash, pilots have been instructed by Eurocontrol to avoid the region, and flights already airborne are being routed around the area by air traffic control in the region.

According to an earlier Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) statement, U.S. airlines had “voluntarily agreed” not to operate in the airspace near the Russian border. The agency issued a Notice to Airman (NOTAM) on April 3 prohibiting U.S. airline flights over the Crimea and some parts of Ukraine adjacent to the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The FAA says the restrictions did not apply for the airspace in which MH17 operated, confirming earlier statements by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The Ukrainian authorities told airlines on Monday not to operate between 26,000 ft and 32,000 ft. over Eastern Ukraine. MH17 was flying 1,000 ft. above the restricted airspace.

After the shoot-down on July 17, the FAA expanded its earlier restriction by prohibiting U.S. carriers from flying in the Simferopol and Dnepropetrovsk flight information regions, which together cover the Eastern Ukraine.

Some airlines had previously decided not to fly over Eastern Ukraine. However, during a July 18 press conference, Malaysian authorities claimed that 15 of 16 member airlines from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) were continuing to use similar routes to MH17, and stressed that it was an approved ICAO route.

The crash of MH17 is the fifth Boeing 777 hull loss, following the March 8 disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which was the fourth. Other hull losses were the Asiana Airlines crash on landing at San Francisco, a British Airways 777-200ER, written off after a landing accident in London in 2008, and an EgyptAir 777-200ER which suffered a cockpit fire in Cairo in 2011.

9M-MRD was delivered to Malaysia Airlines in 1997. The aircraft is understood to be MSN28411.

Discuss this Article 13

The evidence found online against the rebels is mounting rapidly:
- They captured a Buk SA-11 Missile system from the Ukraine forces on June 29 and posted a picture on twitter (http://pic.twitter.com/bIJzIXW2hQ). They have deleted this post since the crash.
- Thursday morning, the capture Buk system was spotted in Snezhnoe approximately 15 mile south east of the crash site (http://t.co/3yFpXcwYpL)
- Later the same Buk was filmed headed to a known rebel position south of the city (http://t.co/Uz38yGPwGV) about 20 miles south east of the reported impact site
- The An-26 that was shut down earlier in the week was at FL21, also not reachable by hand-held systems. Both airplanes were beyond visual range and therefore could have been confused by an untrained crew even if they look very different (http://t.co/TtqX6sxZOQ)

Malaysian Airlines is gulity to fly over a conflict zone, they should have diverted all their flights on the first place.
The US or the US propaganda should not be trusted. All what the US are doing is messing with people, their lives and adding more mess in a messy situation.
This tragedy will not be solved because too many stakes are in place.

Also, to add to Ludozone, US satellites saw the launch and elint satellites likely tracked it. Most importantly, the insurgents have no aircraft, certainly none capable of flying at high altitude, so would Ukraine federal forces shoot at a such a plane? The answers all lead to the same place, and the insurgents briefly claimed the shootdown until learning it was a commercial aircraft. There is no doubt this was a direct result of insurgents and Russia has much blame in this.

This story is also about the rule of law, and the fact that we (the rest of the world) continually fail to appreciate that not all countries observe the fundamentals of international law - to include aviation treaties and rules.

This story is also not about airlines being negligent in flying over contested airspace. The government having authority over this airspace resides in Kiev and nowhere else. That said, Malaysian Airlines and all others that chose to fly this corridor did so with the blessings of the legitimate government of Ukraine. End of!!

I want to present my condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. I am not inhumane, or not civilized; pro-americans (those from Kiev) and pro-russians, speak the same langage, use the same weapons, are closed to each others. So instead of jumping to conclusions we have to have the facts. The carier has a guilt too to have allowed it airplane entering an unsafe, uncontroled (what ever Kiev say) airspace.

1.If missile 9M317, used on Buk-M1 antiaircraft system,hits this full with fuel aircraft with strut-umbrella(for example) warhead on energies equivalent speed of approximately M=5,the result would be huge explosion on Flight Levels 330 visible practically from everywhere,not to speak satellites ....9M317 is used also on the fully automated rechargeable mechanism part air defense system on frigate project 11-356...
2.The aircraft parts are huge and spread - to try make a simple "map" from the videos published is a challenge... but something could be found: for example from the first published videos exclusively provided by (for example) Zvezda channel is visible that the main explosion occurred on the ground,therefore the engines hit the ground together connected to the wing,one of the engines hit the ground not spinning( I assume the left one) but the other worked on some intermediate regime to the end,around the engine presumably working have been seen a front of flame,which can give some additional thoughts about his working regime before hitting the ground...
3.Based on that is possible to make preliminary conclusion that the Boeing was shut down using fighter on board automatic cannon - or 23mm or 30mm which cut the tail not causing explosion but forcing instability,aircraft spin(may be flat), structure overstress and practically vertical downfall,spreading all parts in radius of,lets say 5-10 km....
4.I have seen the briefing of Russia MD today...If I
could believe to that I would say if around the MA17 were additional 4 aircraft (something which Eurocontrol also mention) to use the Buk is getting serious problem...what if the missile just gets another one(plane) in the area...
5.Finally - it is a big tragedy especially for people close to aviation dream and practice...Let be more careful ...

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